The long-time councillor won with over 80 per cent of the vote in 2018. Below is a
review of the Ward 6 Cable 14 debate that took place last month. Photo credit: CBC/Samantha Craggs
The Ward 6 Cable 14 debate took place on September 15. A replay of the debate can be watched via YouTube. Councillor Sam Merulla retired from Council, leaving the ward a wide-open race.
Ward 6 runs from the Escarpment to the hydro corridor just south of Rymal Road. East to west the boundary is Upper Gage Avenue before veering slightly west to Upper Sherman Avenue when it hits the LINC until Rymal Rd. The eastern border is the Upper Red Hill Valley Expressway.
2022 Candidates (Alphabetical by Last Name)
JACKSON, Tom – Present at Debate
PRESTON, Dan – Present at Debate
PUDDU, Donna – Present at Debate
SPOLNIK, Stefan – Present at Debate
SLYE, Chris – Present at Debate
Remaining advanced polls are open at Huntington Park Recreation Centre on the following dates:
Friday, October 14, 2022 – 10AM-8PM
Saturday, October 15, 2022 – 10AM-5PM
Election day is Monday, October 24 and polls are open from 10AM-8PM at 11 locations across Ward 6. To find out your closest location click here.
The debate consisted of a two-minute opening statement from each candidate, questions from local media, and then an open forum period for candidates to ask each other questions.
Incumbent Councillor Tom Jackson used his opening to mention a long list of projects that he has advocated for over the past four years. He mentioned infrastructure renewal, new playgrounds, Phase Two reconstruction of Concession and Mountain Brow Boulevard including an expanded multi-use path, the Macassa Lodge nursing home expansion, Pritchard Rail Trail expansion, and traffic safety initiatives as all having been recently completed or in the works.
Candidate Dan Preston, notably wearing a Hamilton Tiger-Cats jersey at the debate, said that he believes in “less government.” He said that there are too many city councillors and that they are “too divided.”
He thinks that the system of fifteen councillors and one mayor should be reduced to ten councillors and one mayor.
Donna Puddu used her statement to accuse Jackson of not communicating properly with Ward 6 residents.
Stefan Spolnik, who currently works as a paramedic and formerly served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, mentioned his involvement with neighbourhood clean-ups and creating pollinator gardens in his opening.
And Chris Slye focused primarily on affordability and housing, saying that Hamilton needs “a large portion of public geared-to-income housing as a part of every new development.”
When it was time for candidates to field questions, the topic immediately turned to the Chedoke Creek Sewage Leak. Jackson said that he was “as angry as could be” when he found out about the leak.
He continued that legal advice the city received that recommended keeping the scope of the leak private “we can now say was flawed legal advice.”
When conversation turned to other topics, Preston expanded further on his ideas for less government.
“I have no issue with Tom [Jackson], I have an issue with how the government runs,” he contended.
He said that Hamiltonians should have the ability to recall councillors during their four-year term if necessary and that there should be referendums before major municipal decisions are made.
Candidates then made their positions known on the expansion of the Red Hill Parkway and Lincoln Alexander Parkway. Both roads are currently two lanes in each direction, but there has been talk about adding one more lane each way.
Jackson said that 70,000 vehicles use the parkways each day, including truck traffic, and that the roads should be expanded to keep these vehicles from clogging up streets like Mohawk, Stone Church, Limeridge, and Rymal.
Spolnick and Slye are both against any expansion of the parkways. Both candidates instead proposed an LRT line along the LINC and Red Hill as an alternative.
Hamilton “just declared a climate emergency,” argued Slye.
2018 Election Results
Tom Jackson – 8,247 – 82.26% (Elected)
Timothy Taylor – 943 – 9.41%
Brad Young – 836 – 8.34%
Note that the author of this article, Kevin Geenen, is running for Ward 5 City Council Hamilton (Gray Rd to Red Hill Parkway plus the Beach Strip). Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Kevin Geenen reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on social media. He is a regular contributor with The Hamilton Independent and has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. He is known for Hamilton Neighbourhood Watch crime updates and no-nonsense news graphics. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal from Governor General David Johnston. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. He currently works as a journalistic writer and office administrator.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
